In-house productionAll colorFabb 3d printing filaments are produced in our own production facility, situated in the Netherlands. Since no external parties are involved in the making of colorFabb filament we can ensure consistent quality on every order.

Excellent diameter toleranceAn important machine in our production are the laser measurement systems used to check the diameter of our filament real time during production. It’s measured over 1000 times per second and helps us guarantee that each spool of colorFabb 3d printing filament produced within tolerance. We can guarantee 0,05mm +/- on both 2,85mm and 1,75mm colorFabb 3d printing filament, which means you can rest assured that your printer is extruding the exact amount of material.

PackagingWithin minutes of production a spool of colorFabb 3d printing filament is sealed airtight with a double barrier foil. To go the extra mile, we’ll also seal the fancy cardboard box that we use to ship our product. You can make sure colorFabb 3d printing filament is fresh and ready for 3d printing when you’re done unboxing.

In-house testingThe colorFabb testlab features a wide range of popular 3d printers. We’re continuously testing on our 3d printers to keep checking the quality of the materials we produce and to develop exciting new materials for the maker community. If your not sure how to print with our materials on your 3d printer, please contact us at support@colorfabb.com

The following printers are used in our lab:

Ultimaker Original

Ultimaker Original Dual Extrusion

Ultimaker 2

Makerbot Replicator 2s

Delta Tower (E3D hot-end)

Felix 20

Leapfrog Creator

Beethefirst

Mass Portal Pharaoh ED

Prusa i3 HEPHESTOS

Companies who are interested in having their 3d printer(s) featured in our testlab can contact us at support@colorfabb.com

Material scienceColorFabb was founded as a brand of Helian Polymers, a sister company of Peter Holland which have been active in the master batch and additives for the plastics processing industry. Our knowhow, network and partnerships is driving material innovations and quality. You can expect colorFabb to keep on developing interesting new materials, which will be tested on a variety of printers to make sure it’ll get the job done.

Tips & Tricks

At colorFabb we have a well equipped 3d printing studio with a lot of popular 3d printers. We know our materials will give you excellent results and to help you get these results here are tips and trick for using colorFabb 3d printing filament.

Adviced 3d printing temperature:

195-220C*

Adviced 3d print speed:

40 - 100 mm/s

Advised Heated bed (if you have one, not strictly necessary):

50-60C

Build platformOur PLA/PHA performs well on both heated and non-heated build platforms. For those users printing on a cold build platform we advise applying masking tape to the build area. The rough surface of the tape will provide enough adhesion for the first layer to stick and print almost without any warping.

Users using heated build platforms have quite a few options these days. The usual suspects are glass and aluminum build plates. For directly printing on glass or aluminum we advice user to apply glue-stick. A very thin layer will be sufficient to keep your print nicely in place. Another method is dissolving wood glue in water, you the consistency of the substance can be quite thin, a bit like milk. By applying just a few drops and smearing this out before you start heating the built plate will create a very thing layer which holds the PLA/PHA down very well. If applying this method, be careful that you don’t get your electronics wet.

Another method that works well with colorFabb PLA/PHA is polyimide tape, or Kapton tape. This tape is available as a very narrow strip or very wide strips which allow you to cover the build plate in one go. When the tape is applied correctly it can last for months.

TIP! Take your time leveling the bed and adjusting the the gap between 3d printer nozzle and build plate. A perfect first layer will is very important, especially for 3d prints with a large bottom layer. Having the nozzle set to close to the build plate will cause a pressure build up and as a result back flow in most hot ends.

TIP! PLA/PHA has very minimal warping tendencies, however if your printing parts which take up the maximum of you buildspace you might see some warping. If it’s very important that your part is perfectly flat than we suggest to turn down the fan that is cooling your part. This allows the material to slowly get rid of heat without warping. After a few centimeters you can turn on the cooling if the part needs it.

*3d printers have lots of different types of hot-end which makes it extremely difficult to give aan temperature advice. We feel our temperature advice holds for most 3d printers, but should be considered as a starting point for you to find the temperatures that work in you setup. Don’t be afraid to go either higher or lower then our advised temperatures if you feel your set-up needs this.

Since colorFabb develops and produces their own filaments we have a lot of knowhow about our materials. Here you’ll find all kinds of interesting material specifications that will help you decide which material is best for your project.

Please note: The colorFabb transparent colors in the PLA/PHA range are pure PLA without the added PHA.